Post by Cesar Supernova! on Oct 18, 2007 17:15:08 GMT -5
Gwen Stefani - The Sweet Escape (2006)
01. Wind It Up
02. The Sweet Escape (Feat. Akon)
03. Orange County Girl
04. Early Winter
05. Now that You Got It
06. 4 in the Morning
07. Yummy (Feat. Pharrell)
08. Fluorescent
09. Breakin' Up
10. Don't Get It Twisted
11. U Started It
12. Wonderful Life
Review:
Gwen Stefani's latest effort was not at first planned, but after the success of her first album, fans like me were happy to hear that she was once again releasing a solo project. Gwen has said herself that most of the tracks were ones that were not used from the first album, and sometimes that is apparent. Although this CD is by no means a flop or waste of money, I don't feel that it is up to par with her previous album. The opening track, (also her first single), "Wind It Up" is by far one of the best tracks on the CD. With it's wonderful yodeling in the beginning, and the awesome beats and lyrics, this song is simply irresistable! "The Sweet Escape" was a great choice for a follow up single. It's def. very catchy and will get stuck in your head upon one listen. Akon's "woo hoo, yee hoo's" are fun and add to the bouncy nature of the song. Gwen's voice really brings these lyrics to life making this such a cute song, another hard to resist track. The third track "Orange County Girl" is def. one of the weaker tracks. It's not terrible, it just takes a couple of listens before you'll be appreciating it. Now I like the song, but when I first got the CD it didn't stand out to me, I think that the weak chorus is the reason this song is lacking. Next up is "Early Winter", an AMAZING ballad. It could arguably be one of the best songs on the CD, just amazing lyrically and production-wise. This song was featured in her commercial for HP computers, so the instrumentals may be familiar to you. This track is deep, and yet again proves that Gwen's Voice can really deliver emotion. Following "Early Winter" is Gwen's latest single, "Now that You Got It". If I had to pick a favorite song on the CD, it would be this one. This song talks about how now that her man has her, she wants him to keep all his promises and make her happy. It's sort of a greedy tongue in cheek song, I love it. It's so much fun and it's very catchy, the lyrics are great! "4 in the Morning" follows up "Now that You Got It" and was actually the single that came out after "The Sweet Escape". It strikes me odd that this became a single and "Early Winter" didn't. It's a good ballad, and I think the chorus really carries this song, (Gwen's amazing voice again), but I think that "Early Winter" is a better Gwen ballad. This strikes me as being a track that may not have made he first cut, not because it's weak, but it's weaker than her others. "Yummy" comes next, and is def. a VERY dif. track production wise. The lyrics are absolutely great, but it's instrumentals will either make you love it or hate, it's dif. on the ears I think. Fans have said that they would like to see this as a single, and even though it's an interesting and fun track, I don't think that it would be a successful single, it's a little too out there for the mainstream I think. I'm comfortable with it being just for us fans who buy the album, it's our little weird treat. "Fluorescent" comes next and again may be a track that just didn't make the first cut. After some listens this track will def. be appreciated, but at a first listen it will stick out as being a weaker track, an acquired taste. "Breakin' Up" is an odd track that takes some listening to, it def. sticks out at a first listen because of the repetitiveness of it, and before I really liked the track it was always stuck in my head. It's lyrics are weaker than the others, but the production is def. great. Although, if you don't like repetitive tracks, this song may be annoying to you. I think the repetition is used very creatively, but Rihanna's "Umbrella" proves that some people just don't like repetition, ("Umbrella-ella-ella, eh-eh-eh). "Don't Get It Twisted" comes in at track 10 and def. becomes an instant favorite like "Now that You Got It". It's high energy lyrics and music make you want to get down, down! "This is the most craziest shit ever!" Love it, one of my personal favorites. She makes a reference to "Space Invaders", and I'm not sure if it's a Hit'n'Hide reference, or a reference to something else. She def. sings the lyrics "Space Invaders" in a way that brings Hit'n'Hide to mind, I dunno. "U Started It" is a slower track that is quite weak and doesn't really entice the listener to hear more, but it def. gets better as it goes. Not a bad track, but may be one that didn't make the first cut. "Wonderful Life" is a track that I often heard at work, (Rite Aid Pharmacy), which strikes me as odd because it is not one of the singles. This track isn't the best way to end the album I don't think, the chorus is weak and doesn't wrap up the album as nicely as I think "Don't Get It Twisted" would have. Overall I love this album and know that any fans of Gwen will love it too. I feel that it mixes some No Doubt flavor into some of it's tracks, therefore making it a little less original sounding than her first effort. I give this album a 7/10. If you're a Gwen fan and haven't picked up this album, please do! You won't regret it
Cesar
01. Wind It Up
02. The Sweet Escape (Feat. Akon)
03. Orange County Girl
04. Early Winter
05. Now that You Got It
06. 4 in the Morning
07. Yummy (Feat. Pharrell)
08. Fluorescent
09. Breakin' Up
10. Don't Get It Twisted
11. U Started It
12. Wonderful Life
Review:
Gwen Stefani's latest effort was not at first planned, but after the success of her first album, fans like me were happy to hear that she was once again releasing a solo project. Gwen has said herself that most of the tracks were ones that were not used from the first album, and sometimes that is apparent. Although this CD is by no means a flop or waste of money, I don't feel that it is up to par with her previous album. The opening track, (also her first single), "Wind It Up" is by far one of the best tracks on the CD. With it's wonderful yodeling in the beginning, and the awesome beats and lyrics, this song is simply irresistable! "The Sweet Escape" was a great choice for a follow up single. It's def. very catchy and will get stuck in your head upon one listen. Akon's "woo hoo, yee hoo's" are fun and add to the bouncy nature of the song. Gwen's voice really brings these lyrics to life making this such a cute song, another hard to resist track. The third track "Orange County Girl" is def. one of the weaker tracks. It's not terrible, it just takes a couple of listens before you'll be appreciating it. Now I like the song, but when I first got the CD it didn't stand out to me, I think that the weak chorus is the reason this song is lacking. Next up is "Early Winter", an AMAZING ballad. It could arguably be one of the best songs on the CD, just amazing lyrically and production-wise. This song was featured in her commercial for HP computers, so the instrumentals may be familiar to you. This track is deep, and yet again proves that Gwen's Voice can really deliver emotion. Following "Early Winter" is Gwen's latest single, "Now that You Got It". If I had to pick a favorite song on the CD, it would be this one. This song talks about how now that her man has her, she wants him to keep all his promises and make her happy. It's sort of a greedy tongue in cheek song, I love it. It's so much fun and it's very catchy, the lyrics are great! "4 in the Morning" follows up "Now that You Got It" and was actually the single that came out after "The Sweet Escape". It strikes me odd that this became a single and "Early Winter" didn't. It's a good ballad, and I think the chorus really carries this song, (Gwen's amazing voice again), but I think that "Early Winter" is a better Gwen ballad. This strikes me as being a track that may not have made he first cut, not because it's weak, but it's weaker than her others. "Yummy" comes next, and is def. a VERY dif. track production wise. The lyrics are absolutely great, but it's instrumentals will either make you love it or hate, it's dif. on the ears I think. Fans have said that they would like to see this as a single, and even though it's an interesting and fun track, I don't think that it would be a successful single, it's a little too out there for the mainstream I think. I'm comfortable with it being just for us fans who buy the album, it's our little weird treat. "Fluorescent" comes next and again may be a track that just didn't make the first cut. After some listens this track will def. be appreciated, but at a first listen it will stick out as being a weaker track, an acquired taste. "Breakin' Up" is an odd track that takes some listening to, it def. sticks out at a first listen because of the repetitiveness of it, and before I really liked the track it was always stuck in my head. It's lyrics are weaker than the others, but the production is def. great. Although, if you don't like repetitive tracks, this song may be annoying to you. I think the repetition is used very creatively, but Rihanna's "Umbrella" proves that some people just don't like repetition, ("Umbrella-ella-ella, eh-eh-eh). "Don't Get It Twisted" comes in at track 10 and def. becomes an instant favorite like "Now that You Got It". It's high energy lyrics and music make you want to get down, down! "This is the most craziest shit ever!" Love it, one of my personal favorites. She makes a reference to "Space Invaders", and I'm not sure if it's a Hit'n'Hide reference, or a reference to something else. She def. sings the lyrics "Space Invaders" in a way that brings Hit'n'Hide to mind, I dunno. "U Started It" is a slower track that is quite weak and doesn't really entice the listener to hear more, but it def. gets better as it goes. Not a bad track, but may be one that didn't make the first cut. "Wonderful Life" is a track that I often heard at work, (Rite Aid Pharmacy), which strikes me as odd because it is not one of the singles. This track isn't the best way to end the album I don't think, the chorus is weak and doesn't wrap up the album as nicely as I think "Don't Get It Twisted" would have. Overall I love this album and know that any fans of Gwen will love it too. I feel that it mixes some No Doubt flavor into some of it's tracks, therefore making it a little less original sounding than her first effort. I give this album a 7/10. If you're a Gwen fan and haven't picked up this album, please do! You won't regret it
Cesar
